Robert Mugabe is racist – MDC

Mugabe has refused to swear in MDC’s deputy minister designate Roy Bennett because of his pending court cases.

MDC deputy organizing secretary Morgan Komichi said the swearing in of Nkomo shows that Mugabe is a "racist".

“The whole process shows ZANU-PF’s insincerity. Here is a man who is facing serious allegations who have been abruptly sworn in and at the other side we have Mr Bennett our party choice for the post of Deputy Agriculture Minister who has not been sworn in nine months after the formation of the inclusive government," he said.

“We are however not surprised that the Nkomo sodomy allegations have been swept under the carpet, and we demand that investigations be completed and justice prevail in that case.

This is not only a selective application of justice but clear racism by President Mugabe and his party, given that both Bennett and Nkomo have pending criminal cases. We know that one is not guilty until proven otherwise by the court of law, and why treating these two cases differently?

MDC Youth Secretary General Solomon Madzore said justice should be applied equally to all citizens, adding that Mugabe had double standards.

“We are not saying Nkomo is guilty of sodomy, but what we want is a fair application of justice despite the colour of the skin or one’s political affiliation.

If the President is refusing to swear-in Roy Bennett for having pending court cases why then rush to swear-in Nkomo, whom we all know is under investigation on allegations of sodomy.

“We all know that Mugabe is against homosexuality and we are surprised to note that he went on to swear in a person who is accused of the same practices he always condemns. The truth of the matter is that Bennett is white and Mugabe is a racist who cannot accept white people in the government,” he said.

Nkomo’s sodomy allegations arose after a Bulawayo man accused him for sodomising him. The man was apprehended by police for lying but the case is still under investigation.

Bennett is facing terrorism charges and Mugabe has insisted he will not swear him as deputy minister of Agriculture until he is cleared of court charges. Bennett’s issue is among the outstanding cases that has slowed the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that brought about the unity government. Currently negotiators of MDC and Zanu PF have been locked in meetings to try and iron out the outstanding issues as demanded by a Southern African Development Community (SADC) troika. An announcement still has to be made on the progress of the talks. Radio VOP